Mary Ellen Trainor, a character actress who appeared in "Die Hard,""The Goonies" and "Lethal Weapon," died on May 20 at the age of 62. The news was confirmed yesterday by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, a longtime friend.

Trainor started out in the movie business as a producer's assistant, which is how she met her eventual husband, the director Robert Zemeckis. After they married in 1980, Zemeckis cast her in "Romancing the Stone" as Kathleen Turner's kidnapped sister.

She went on to appear in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s. Trainor played Mikey and Brand's mom in "The Goonies," police psychiatrist Stephanie Woods in "Lethal Weapon" and its sequels, and a reporter in "Die Hard." She also worked with her husband on "Back to the Future II" and "Forrest Gump," and logged television credits including "Relativity" and "Roswell."

Trainor and Zemeckis had a son, Alex, but divorced in 2000. As her acting career waned, Trainor became a philanthropist for causes as varied as cancer research, safe water for developing countries, and disaster relief.

Trainor is survived by her son; her mother, Jane; and siblings Ned, Jack, Barbara and Carolyn.